NEWS SUMMARY

A report by two human rights groups says there is irrefutable evidence that the troops of President Laurent Kabila of Congo have killed large numbers of civilian refugees since last fall and that the killings have not stopped. Mr. Kabila has been blocking United Nations efforts to investigate sites in several parts of the Congo, formerly Zaire, where thousands of Hutu refugees from Rwanda are thought to have been killed and buried in common graves. A14

Hutu Attack in Western Rwanda

More than 1,000 Hutu guerrillas attacked a border town in western Rwanda, battling Government forces for seven hours before retreating, Rwandan military officials and aid workers said. At least 80 insurgents and two government soldiers were killed, a Rwandan officer said. Hutu militia have mounted larger, better organized attacks since May. A15

Official List of Terrorists

Under a Congressional mandate, the State Department designated 30 groups as foreign terrorist organizations, making it illegal to provide funds for them and denying their members visas to enter the United States. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright said the goal was to make the country ''fully a no-support-for-terrorism zone.'' A13

Reporter Freed in Belarus

Belarus has freed a reporter for a Russian television network who had been imprisoned since July for illegally trying to cross the border with Lithuania. President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus, often described as an autocrat, has been unhappy with Russian journalists because Russian television, which is free of censorship, reaches much of his country. A5

Maurice Papon, the highest-ranking official of occupied France to face charges of complicity in German crimes against humanity, went on trial behind a bullet-proof plastic shield in a crowded Bordeaux courtroom. Accused of having sent 1,560 Jews to Auschwitz, the 87-year-old defendant has said he did not know that few of them would ever return. A3

North Korea's ''Dear Leader,'' Kim Jong Il, 55, assumed the country's top leadership post, which had been vacant three years, since the death of his father, the ''Great Leader'' Kim Il Sung. Mr. Kim has been described as a playboy terrorist with a passion for films, but some scholars believe he may become a force for liberal change. A rare white sea cucumber caught last month was held to indicate these were auspicious times for Mr. Kim. A10

Canadian Wilderness Protected

The provincial government of British Columbia reached an agreement with environmentalists, oil and mining companies and Indian groups to safeguard more than 10 million acres of nearly untouched wilderness in the northern Rocky Mountains. The core 2.5 million acres of the Muskwa-Kechika area will be safe from all development. A7

NATIONAL A16-29

Clinton Defends His Record On Campaign Fund-Raising

President Clinton, hoping to calm the political tempest over belatedly discovered White House videotapes of his meetings with Democratic donors, defended his fund-raising practices. Mr. Clinton rejected the latest Congressional suggestions, mostly by Republicans, that the appointment of an outside counsel was the only way to ensure a credible investigation into those practices. A1

House Passes Abortion Curb

The House approved by a wide margin a ban on a form of late-term abortion that opponents see as violent, unnecessary and a political vulnerability of those who defend abortion rights. President Clinton, who vetoed the measure once before, has promised to do so again. A1

Gun Makers to Add Safeguard

Most of the manufacturers of handguns in the United States have agreed to install child-safety locks by the end of next year at the urging of President Clinton, a senior White House official and a representative of the gun makers said. A1

A Test for Same-Sex Schools

California has begun the nation's most ambitious experiment in single-sex education, a pilot program encouraging school districts to make separate but equal boys' and girls' academies an option for middle and high school students. A1

Georgian Envoy Pleads Guilty

An embassy official from the Republic of Georgia pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault for driving while intoxicated and causing the death of a teen-age girl. A20

The Clinton Administration began its formal push on Capitol Hill for broad powers to enable the Department of Agriculture to order the mandatory recall of contaminated meats and poultry and, for the first time, levy civil fines against violators. A28

An error has occurred. Please try again later.

You are already subscribed to this email.

The Supreme Court heard arguments on whether a government-owned television station that sponsors debates among candidates violates the Constitution if it makes the editorial judgment that a fringe candidate with little chance of success at the polls should not participate. A28

New Evidence for Life on Mars

The Mars Pathfinder has yielded the strongest evidence yet that Mars, like Earth, has a crust, a mantle and an iron core, scientists said. The finding lends support to the theory that the red planet might once have been hospitable to life. A24

Trade Legislation Advances

The House Ways and Means Committee voted to give President Clinton broad authority to negotiate global trade agreements, but the Administration won the support of only a handful of the committee's Democrats despite a late flurry of lobbying. A28

NEW YORK/REGION B1-12

Mayor Announces Plan To Combat Gang Presence

Mayor Giuliani, responding to a spate of attacks linked by the authorities to a rise in violent street gangs, said he would expand special police gang-fighting efforts in New York City's streets and schools, and urged passage of tougher state laws. B1

Baby Found in Closet

A two-and-a-half-week-old baby is in stable condition after a woman in Central Islip found the boy on the floor of her daughter's closet where he had been hidden for 17 days. The mother of the child had kept her pregnancy a secret. B1

The Grass Is Greener

Fences surrounding Central Park's sweeping Great Lawn come down tomorrow after a face lift costing $18.2 million. But park officials and aficionados already worry that constant use will trample the new grass. B1

SPORTS C1-8

ARTS E1-10

HOUSE & HOME F1-18

OBITUARIES D22-23

Yevgheny Khaldei

The photographer whose pictures of Soviet soldiers hoisting the red flag over the Reichstag in Berlin are among the best known images of World War II was 80. D23

Gunpei Yokoi

A brilliant tinkerer who designed the Game Boy and other products that helped transform Nintendo from a sleepy manufacturer of playing cards to a worldwide colossus in video games, he was 56. D22

Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned that inflation might be on the horizon, jolting investors who had grown used to the ideal economic conditions of the last year and increasing the chances that the central bank might soon raise interest rates. His caution signal was seen by analysts and in the financial markets as an abrupt change of tone and emphasis. A1

Indonesia Asks for Help

Indonesia asked the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for help in overcoming an emerging financial crisis as economic problems continued to spread through Southeast Asia. D1

Business Digest D1

EDITORIAL A30-31

Editorials: Honorable fatigue; surprising sequel in the Mideast; the street gang threat; hinge of the seasons.